I am floating in a purple ocean. Waves lap against me, rocking me gently. As every muscle in my body releases all its tension, I am melting, suspended in time and space, utterly calm and peaceful.

I am in Judy Rose Seibert’s studio, having a Tragerâsession.

I have been having Trager sessions with Judy Rose Seibert for eight years now. The first one took me by surprise; I had had massages before, from Swedish to shiatsu, but I had never experienced anything so deeply relaxing as Trager’s rhythmic movements. When Judy Rose gently and expertly elongates one of my muscles and begins a rocking, pulsing motion, my muscle knows that it has no need to fight the feeling—it lets go.

I have taken stock of all my middle-aged aches and pains—the nagging crick in my neck (another side-effect of computer use), the trigger-point in my upper back (a remnant of a car accident)—and have told Judy Rose where it hurts. Now she runs her skilled and careful hands over my sore neck muscle and lifts my head, stretching that muscle and rocking my head until the muscle no longer throbs. What did she do to ease the pain in my upper back? I’m not even sure. Trager bodywork is like magic; it’s easy to go with the flow so that the experience moves beyond the intellect, beyond language itself, into inner tranquility.

As I lie there, music swirling around me, Judy Rose lifts my forearm—the part of my body that gets the most tired from my incessant computing—and gently twists so that the muscles go in two different directions. "Huh?" my muscles say before they give up on all plans to resist and totally relax. Calm spreads through my entire body as these small areas, triggers of stress, not only release, but seem to question the very point of tension—it is as if all my muscles have held a meeting and decided that protest is futile.

Now, three days later, my formerly sore places are still pain-free. When I try—as Judy Rose has taught me—to recall the experience of the session, I take a deep breath and find that I can still call all these muscles into cooperation as they recall the kindness with which they were treated. "Thank you," say my muscles, who, while they are prone to carrying a grudge, will never forget a good turn.

Relaxation does not come naturally to my muscles and me; it is something that we have to learn, and once we’ve learned it, we can recall the feeling of relaxation when we need it. Trager bodywork teaches us how to explore our daily lives to find what causes our sore muscles, and helps us learn movements that allow us to let go of our muscle tension. It’s more than just massage—it’s a total body experience that changes the way we move and live. Trager relaxes the entire body by engaging it, interesting it, treating it with respect; and when we relax, we can access the core of peace and well-being that waits inside us all.

As I sit at my computer, thanks to Judy Rose Seibert, Trager virtuoso, I can still call up the feeling of oceanic serenity that my muscles have gleaned from her and carry it into my day.

Trager, Mentastics, and the Dancing Cloud logo are registered service marks of Trager International.